My Name Is Jasper

Goodbye

A long time ago we discovered that nothing could stop us,

This hasn't torn us apart, so nothing ever will.

How can we know where we are if the sun is beyond us?

But this moment will show us the rest of our lives.

Goodbye – Corey Taylor  (365)

This is it.

Well, this is almost it. Today I'm boarding a flight to Europe. Destination Vienna. Destination Julie. Our trip is finally about to begin. Hers has started months ago, and mine will be interrupted for two weeks at the end of June. A mixture of delays with Canadian Immigration – it takes much longer than expected to receive my Permanent Residency card (366) - and the request of Microsoft to stay until the end of the fiscal year, made it necessary, well let's call it mutually beneficial, to squeeze a few more days of work in my schedule.

During those work weeks ahead, I'll be ready for duty, mostly focusing on handing over those duties to whoever takes my role. But let there be no mistake: Today is the first day of a new life. A life of exploration, travel, and I hope many wonders. In the end that new life might only take one year, maybe a lifetime. We'll see what happens, I'm ready to leave!

My flight is delayed, fuck... What does my connection status say? Oh, the issue is in Reykjavik. Alright then, I should be fine.

It's going to be a long trip. Stopover in Reykjavik, stopover in Brussels. It'll take roughly 24 hours to see Julie. It'll be worth it. I'm getting hungry, I should eat: I love the IcelandAir service, but there're no complimentary meals on board. The tiny treats from their menu are tasty, but won't satisfy my growling stomach. Toronto's Pearson airport is equipped with super easy order-from-your-table tablets. A few seconds later my order is placed and I fire up Netflix. It's been a more tiresome week than expected and the first episode of a random show hasn't passed its opening credits and I feel my eyes getting heavy.

"Here you go hon'!" The waitress places down what looks like a tasty bowl of pasta, and the beer of my choosing. I thank her and with renewed energy, my eyes fix on my screen while I devour the Italian dish. Didn't I order a second thing as well? I don't quite remember. I don't even remember ordering the pasta. Maybe the second order didn't go through... Not a bad thing actually: I'm pretty full.

"You ordered this food as well right 'hon?" The waitress asks me with a slightly puzzled look as she's holding two extra full meals. Right, I never did order pasta... Too late now. I confirm the newly arrived dishes are what I ordered. She confirms a few minutes later she accidentally gave me someone else's order first. Ah well, I wrap some stuff for my flight and pick at the rest while I wait for my delayed flight to board.

The waitress, turns out she goes by the name 'Sue' – a middle-aged, slightly too large woman with an infectious smile – stops by regularly to check on me, and make small talk. "Wow, you're going on a year of travel? Aren't you afraid?" I suppress my urge to recap my chapter on how fear can drive you on, and go for a simple: "Not really, no. The time is right, there's no reason for me not to do it." Ignoring my sentiment Sue presses on, although I feel she's more thinking out loud or started a conversation with herself. "The world is a scary place, there are so many bad things happening... You hear about tourists getting into trouble. If I was you I would be afraid to die." Well thanks Sue, definitely the things you want to say to your customers in an airport of all places. More dry than intended I tell her: "Only those who were afraid to live are afraid to die." For one second she pauses clearing my table. "That's deep Jasper," she muses, "that's deep." Yes, that is deep I confirm with a smile as she walks away. I got it from a Belgian children's comic book. (367)